Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild High confidence Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2021-4374

WordPress Automatic Plugin

ValvePress / WordPress Automatic Plugin · affected before 3.53.3

Severity
CVSS 9.1 · Critical
Confidence
High
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
16.4%
First observed
Last observed

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2021-4374 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting ValvePress WordPress Automatic Plugin. The WordPress Automatic Plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary options updates in versions up to, and...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is high.

Who is affected?

ValvePress / WordPress Automatic Plugin affected before 3.53.3.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

WordPress Automatic Plugin

The WordPress Automatic Plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary options updates in versions up to, and including, 3.53.2. This is due to missing authorization and option validation in the process_form.php file.

This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to arbitrarily update the settings of a vulnerable site and ultimately compromise the entire site.

Vendor Product Affected Status
ValvePress WordPress Automatic Plugin Before 3.53.3 Affected
Published
07 Jun 2023
Exploitation Reported
25 Apr 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

nuclei_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

The Shadowserver

Recorded 25 Apr 2026

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Proof of concept available

Nuclei Templates

Recorded 12 Jun 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
The Shadowserver First 2026-04-25 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.1 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

EPSS

16.4%

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  2. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  3. Added to KEV Intelligence KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  4. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2021-4374

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2021-4374",
  "confidence": "High",
  "cvss_score": 9.1,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.16408,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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